Now that autumn has arrived, gardening chores are winding down. But there’s still one more thing you should do if you want a big display of color come spring: Go for the bulbs. And plants lots of them.
Garden centers, home-improvement stores and mail-order catalogs offer eye-catching images of daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, snowdrops and scores of other cold-hardy bloomers in sweeping drifts that will cheer us come February and into spring.
We tend to buy a bag or two and pop the bulbs in the ground in a neat little row. Come spring we have something that resembles floral Morse code, a line of plants that form a few dots and dashes. The result: a pathetic row of red tulips, standing like soldiers in front of the palace.
Or we throw a half-dozen crocus here, there or anywhere. It’s an underwhelming experience, and we wondered why we bothered.
You can have a big display and you don’t have to break the bank. But you do have to plant in groupings of at least 10 bulbs, and plant them close together. “We plant the bulbs even closer than we recommend on our planting instructions,” says Scott Kunst of Old House Gardens-Heirloom Bulbs in Ann Arbor, Mich. “Some of the instructions are based on public plantings and that’s not the way we experience most home gardens.”
In public parks, bulbs may be planted by the thousands and can be spaced farther apart because large drifts catch our attention. When you’re dealing with a smaller space, like a back yard, you want to use more bulbs in tighter groupings. If your budget is tight, use fewer groupings. Just don’t skimp on the number of bulbs in each planting.
Fancy hybrid tulips are particularly striking in a large mass, but until recently, many gardeners have treated them as annuals, an expensive proposition. “Most tulips give a good show and fade away,” says Stacy Fraser, horticulturist for bulb dealer Dutch Gardens in Burlington, Vt. Several firms, including Dutch Gardens, now offer perennial tulips. “They will come back typically for five to seven years,” Fraser says.
“My favorites are the species tulips because they come back year after year. They’re not a big showy tulip, but you can mix them with ground covers and perennials like hostas,” says Jill Selinger, coordinator of continuing education at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe and teacher of classes on hardy bulbs there.
Species tulips tend to be less than 6 inches high and often are bicolored. “We recommend that tulips be planted in drifts or clusters rather than soldiers in a little row. They’re like bouquets in your garden,” says Jo-Anne Ohms, president of John Scheepers Inc., a bulb house in Bantam, Conn.
If squirrels or deer are a problem in your garden, use daffodils, says Doris Taylor, plant information specialist at The Morton Arboretum in Lisle. “I tend to head toward daffodils because they’re more resistant to pests.”
The arboretum this fall planted more than 20,000 daffodils. “We try to buy the naturalizing ones that continue to spread,” says Taylor. Naturalizing daffodils can multiply into large sweeps of color.
VanBloem Gardens, one of the largest wholesale distributors of spring bulbs in the Chicago area, notes on its packaging which daffodils are good for naturalizing as well as when the bulbs will produce flowers. Choosing varieties that bloom in early, mid- or late spring will extend the season of color.
“The poet’s daffodil is our all-time favorite,” Fraser says. “It’s one of the latest daffodils to bloom in spring, so just when you think they’ve all gone by, you have this delicate one that blooms.”
The downside
When daffodils are planted thickly, you may need to divide them every four years or so, especially if they produce fewer flowers than previous springs.
“You’ll start getting more foliage than flowers, and that’s a sign the root systems are choking each other,” Ohms says. Divide bulbs after the foliage fades in summer.
Selinger enjoys smaller bulbs like scilla that spread and can form a colorful temporary ground cover under a tall shade tree. Other bulbs, such as crocus, she plants in the lawn. “Crocus tomassinianus is a little more squirrel-resistant. They come up, bloom and the leaves are dormant before you start mowing.”
Effective combinations
Another way to get an effective display is by combining two or three different types of bulbs.
“You can experiment by combining snowdrops, winter aconite and scilla. They’re such no-care plants, but a lot of people tend to overlook them because they’re not big and showy,” Kunst says. He uses these diminutive heirlooms in groupings around old-fashioned peonies and in front of shrubs such as lilacs or viburnum.
Ohms plants bulbs in what she calls little “eye gulps.” Her favorite combination is the tulip `Toronto’ and glory-of-the-snow (chionodoxa).
“They look spectacular in bloom together,” Ohms says. She digs a large hole and spaces 10 tulip bulbs about 6 inches apart. After covering the tulips with a little soil, she places another layer of the chionodoxa about 4 inches apart evenly over the hole. After covering with more soil and tamping it down, she sprinkles on a top dressing of bulb fertilizer.
If two types of bulbs look good, how about four or five? Ohms, Fraser and Kunst all agree it is probably too much of a good thing. “With more than two varieties, it gets a little confusing. . . .Any individual tulip or narcissus is so beautiful by itself that I try to accent them and let their own beauty stand out,” Ohms says.
Bulb tips
Here are some experts’ tips for success with bulbs:
– Select early-, mid- and late-season varieties to extend spring color from February through June.
– Don’t overlook the fall-blooming bulbs like autumn crocus (colchicum), which can be planted now for a show next year.
– Try to get the bulbs in the ground by late October. The earlier you plant, the more time the bulbs will have to produce roots that will help them through the winter.
– A light mulch of chopped leaves or compost applied after the ground freezes in mid-December will help protect them.
– Plant in well-drained soil. Bulbs are particularly sensitive to soil that remains wet and soggy during winter; it can cause them to rot.
– Extend the life of tulips and hyacinths by planting them in drier areas of the garden such as under trees and in front of shrubs.
– Use a ruler or mark the inches on your trowel with an indelible-ink pen. “A lot of people think they’re planting 6 to 8 inches deep, but it may only be 4 or 5,” says Scott Kunst of Old House Gardens-Heirloom Bulbs in Ann Arbor, Mich.
– Fertilize when the bulb is done flowering. This will build up nutrients that will produce next year’s flowers.
— Nina Koziol
Sources for bulbs
Spring-blooming bulbs are available now at garden centers (look for large, well-formed bulbs) or try these mail-order sources:
Old House Gardens
Heirloom Bulbs
536 3rd St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48103
734-995-1486
www.oldhousegardens.com
Brent and Becky’s Bulbs
7463 Heath Trail
Gloucester, VA 23061
804-693-3966
www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com
Dutch Gardens
144 Intervale Rd.
Burlington, VT 05401
800-950-4470
www.dutchgardens.com
John Scheepers Inc.
23 Tulip Drive
P.O. Box 638
Bantam, CT 06750
860-567-0838
www.johnscheepers.com
— Nina Koziol
